Exodus 7
Big idea: The contest begins. God redefines the roles — see, I have made you as God to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother will be your prophet — and states the shape of what follows: Pharaoh will not listen, so I will lay my hand on Egypt and bring out my armies by great judgments, and the Egyptians shall know that I am Yahweh. The first demonstration is a staff that becomes a serpent, matched by Egypt's magicians and then swallowed by Aaron's. Then the first plague: the Nile struck and turned to blood, its fish dead and the river foul, Egyptians digging along the bank for water — and the magicians match it too, so Pharaoh turns and goes into his house and doesn't even take this to heart.
Chapter 7 ends seven days after the river was struck, with Pharaoh unmoved. Chapter 8 keeps the pressure rising through frogs and gnats until Egypt's own magicians tell the king this is the finger of God.
7:1–7 — As God to Pharaoh
Yahweh answers the objection about lips by reassigning roles: I have made you as God to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother will be your prophet. Moses speaks what he is commanded, Aaron relays it, and Pharaoh is to let Israel go. But God states the outcome in advance — I will harden Pharaoh's heart and multiply my signs and wonders; he will not listen, so I will lay my hand on Egypt and bring out my armies by great judgments, and the Egyptians will know that I am Yahweh. Moses and Aaron did so; Moses was eighty and Aaron eighty-three.
1 Yahweh said to Moses, “Behold, I have made you as God to Pharaoh; and Aaron your brother shall be your prophet. 2 You shall speak all that I command you; and Aaron your brother shall speak to Pharaoh, that he let the children of Israel go out of his land. 3 I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and multiply my signs and my wonders in the land of Egypt. 4 But Pharaoh will not listen to you, so I will lay my hand on Egypt, and bring out my armies, my people the children of Israel, out of the land of Egypt by great judgments. 5 The Egyptians shall know that I am Yahweh when I stretch out my hand on Egypt, and bring the children of Israel out from among them.” 6 Moses and Aaron did so. As Yahweh commanded them, so they did. 7 Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron eighty-three years old, when they spoke to Pharaoh.
7:8–13 — The staff that swallowed the others
When Pharaoh demands a miracle, Aaron throws down his rod before Pharaoh and his servants, and it becomes a serpent. Pharaoh calls the wise men, sorcerers and magicians of Egypt, and they do the same thing with their enchantments — each casts down his rod and it becomes a serpent. But Aaron's rod swallows theirs. Pharaoh's heart is hardened and he does not listen, as Yahweh had said.
8 Yahweh spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, 9 “When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, ‘Perform a miracle!’ then you shall tell Aaron, ‘Take your rod, and cast it down before Pharaoh, and it will become a serpent.’” 10 Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh, and they did so, as Yahweh had commanded. Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh and before his servants, and it became a serpent. 11 Then Pharaoh also called for the wise men and the sorcerers. They also, the magicians of Egypt, did the same thing with their enchantments. 12 For they each cast down their rods, and they became serpents; but Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods. 13 Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he didn’t listen to them, as Yahweh had spoken.
7:14–25 — The Nile turned to blood
Moses is sent to meet Pharaoh in the morning at the water's edge with the rod that became a serpent, and the demand and the sign together: in this you shall know that I am Yahweh — I will strike the waters, and they will be turned to blood. Aaron lifts the rod and strikes the Nile in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants; the water turns to blood, the fish die, the river stinks, and Egypt cannot drink from it. Blood is everywhere in Egypt, even in wooden and stone vessels. The magicians do the same with their enchantments, so Pharaoh turns and goes into his house and does not take even this to heart — and Egypt digs along the river for water for seven days.
14 Yahweh said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is stubborn. He refuses to let the people go. 15 Go to Pharaoh in the morning. Behold, he is going out to the water. You shall stand by the river’s bank to meet him. You shall take the rod which was turned to a serpent in your hand. 16 You shall tell him, ‘Yahweh, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to you, saying, “Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness. Behold, until now you haven’t listened.” 17 Yahweh says, “In this you shall know that I am Yahweh. Behold: I will strike with the rod that is in my hand on the waters which are in the river, and they shall be turned to blood. 18 The fish that are in the river will die and the river will become foul. The Egyptians will loathe to drink water from the river.”’” 19 Yahweh said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Take your rod, and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt, over their rivers, over their streams, and over their pools, and over all their ponds of water, that they may become blood. There will be blood throughout all the land of Egypt, both in vessels of wood and in vessels of stone.’” 20 Moses and Aaron did so, as Yahweh commanded; and he lifted up the rod, and struck the waters that were in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh, and in the sight of his servants; and all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood. 21 The fish that were in the river died. The river became foul. The Egyptians couldn’t drink water from the river. The blood was throughout all the land of Egypt. 22 The magicians of Egypt did the same thing with their enchantments. So Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he didn’t listen to them, as Yahweh had spoken. 23 Pharaoh turned and went into his house, and he didn’t even take this to heart. 24 All the Egyptians dug around the river for water to drink; for they couldn’t drink the river water. 25 Seven days were fulfilled, after Yahweh had struck the river.
Scripture text: World English Bible (public domain).